Birthday's to share this week : 3rd - 9th December 2017.

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week?

Jack Huston does on 7th December - check out my tribute to this Actor Birthday Boy turning 35, at the end of this feature.

Do you also share your birthday with a well known, highly regarded & famous Actor or Actress; share your special day with a Director, Producer, Writer, Cinematographer, Singer/Songwriter or Composer of repute; or share an interest in whoever might notch up another year in the coming seven days? Then, look no further! Whilst there will be too many to mention in this small but not insignificant and beautifully written and presented Blog, here are the more notable and noteworthy icons of the big screen, and the small screen, that you will recognise, and that you might just share your birthday with in the week ahead. If so, Happy Birthday to you from Odeon Online!

Sunday 3rd December

• Jean-Luc Godard - Born 1930, turns 87 - Director | Writer | Editor | Actor | Producer | Cinematographer
• Brendan Fraser - Born 1968, turns 49 - Actor | Producer 
• Julianne Moore - Born 1960, turns 57 - Actress | Producer | Singer
• Daryl Hannah - Born 1960, turns 57 - Actress | Producer | Director | Writer
• Amanda Seyfried - Born 1985, turns 32 - Actress | Producer | Singer  

Monday 4th December

• Pamela Stephenson - Born 1949, turns 68 - Actress | Writer 
• Marisa Tomei - Born 1964, turns 53 - Actress | Producer
• Jeff Bridges - Born 1949, turns 68 - Actor | Producer | Singer | Songwriter 
• Jay Z (aka Shawn Corey Carter) - Born 1969, turns 48 - Singer | Songwriter | Composer | Producer | Actor  

Tuesday 5th December

• Nick Stahl - Born 1979, turns 38 - Actor | Producer
• Frankie Muniz - Born 1985, turns 32 - Actor | Producer | Writer  

Wednesday 6th December

• Tom Hulce - Born 1953, turns 64 - Actor | Producer | Singer
• Nick Park - Born 1958, turns 59 - Writer | Producer | Director | Animator 
• Judd Apatow - Born 1967, turns 50 - Producer | Writer | Director | Actor | Songwriter
• JoBeth Williams - Born 1948, turns 69 - Actress | Producer | Director | Singer  

Thursday 7th December

• Ellen Burstyn - Born 1932, turns 85 - Actress | Producer | Director
• Emily Browning - Born 1988, turns 29 - Actress | Singer
• Tom Waits - Born 1949, turns 68 - Singer | Songwriter | Composer | Actor 
• Jeffrey Wright - Born 1965, turns 52 - Actor | Singer
• Jeff Nichols - Born 1978, turns 39 - Writer | Director | Producer
• Jack Huston - Born 1982, turns 35 - Actor | Singer
• Nicholas Hoult - Born 1989, turns 28 - Actor   

Friday 8th December

• Rick Baker - Born 1950, turns 67 - Make-Up Artist | Special FX Director | Actor | Producer
• Dominic Monaghan - Born 1976, turns 41 - Actor | Producer | Singer | Songwriter
• Matthias Schoenaerts - Born 1977, turns 40 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer
• Kim Basinger - Born 1953, turns 64 - Actress | Producer 
• Teri Hatcher - Born 1964, turns 53 - Actress  

Saturday 9th December 

• Felicity Huffman - Born 1962, turns 55 - Actress 
• Judi Dench - Born 1934, turns 83 - Actress | Singer
• Beau Bridges - Born 1941, turns 76 - Actor | Director | Producer
• John Malkovich - Born 1953, turns 64 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer

Jack Alexander Huston was born in King's Lynn, Norfolk, England to mother Lady Margot Cholmondeley and father Tony Huston, an Actor, Writer and Assistant Director. His mother is English and his father is American, and his paternal aunt is Actress Anjelica Huston and his paternal uncle is Actor Danny Huston, his paternal grandfather was Director John Huston and he is the great grandson of Canadian Actor Walter Huston. On his mothers side, his great grandfather George Cholmondeley, the 5th Marquess, Jack is descended from Robert Walpole, the first Prime Minister of Britain, and from Mayer Amschel Rothschild, the founder of the Rothschild international banking dynasty. Jack had made his mind up to become an Actor after appearing in a school production of 'Peter Pan' at just six years old. He attended the private, residential co-educational Hurtwood House, a sixth form college located in Dorking, Surrey where he studied drama. 

Huston gained his first film role in the made for television film adaptation of 'Spartacus' in 2004 alongside Goran Visnjic, Alan Bates, Angus Macfadyen, Ben Cross, Ross Kemp and Rhona Mitra. This led to the horror thriller 'Neighbourhood Watch' in 2005, then the biographical drama 'Factory Girl' with Sienna Miller, Guy Pearce, Jimmy Fallon, Hayden Christensen, James Naughton, Mena Suvari and Mary Elizabeth Winstead in 2006, and horror comedy offering 'Shrooms' in 2007. Sci-Fi actioner 'Outlander' followed in 2008 with Jim Caviezel, Ron Perlman and John Hurt with dramatic thriller 'The Garden of Eden' that same  year with Mena Suvari, Matthew Modine, and Richard E. Grant. 2009 saw comedy drama 'Shrink' with Kevin Spacey with comedy drama 'Boogie Woogie' also starring Danny Huston, Gillian Anderson, Alan Cumming, Heather Graham, Christopher Lee, Stellen Skarsgard, Charlotte Rampling and Amanda Seyfried seeing out the decade. 

2010 saw his appearance on eight out of the thirteen episode single season of the fantasy drama television series 'Eastwick', and then the biographical crime comedy caper 'Mr. Nice' with Rhys Ifans, David Thewlis and Chloe Sevigny. He then made a brief appearance in the 2010 instalment of the Stephanie Meyer novel big screen adaptation of 'The Twilight Saga : Eclipse' before scoring a turn in the Al Pacino Directed, Co-Written and starring docudrama 'Wilde Salome'. This led to the drama based on real events 'The Hot Potato' with Ray Winstone, and then '2 Jacks' alongside Danny Huston again, Sienna Miller, Jacqueline Bisset and Billy Zane in 2012. That year also saw 'Not Fade Away' and the five part television mini-series 'Parade's End' with Benedict Cumberbatch, Rupert Everett, Miranda Richardson and Rebecca Hall amongst notable others.

Up next for Huston was the biographical drama 'Kill Your Darlings' about the lives of acclaimed poets drawn together through a murder - Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac and William Burroughs, with Daniel Radcliffe playing the former, Ben Foster the latter and Huston the guy in the middle. 'Night Train to Lisbon' followed with Jeremy Irons, Tom Courtenay, Bruno Ganz, Christopher Lee and Charlotte Rampling in this mystery romantic thriller, and then the highly acclaimed 'American Hustle' as Co-Written and Directed by David O'Russell with an ensemble cast including Jennifer Lawrence, Amy Adams, Christian Bale, Bradley Cooper, Jeremy Renner and Michael Pena. The film was nominated for ten Academy Awards but failed to win one, but it did win three Golden Globes  and was nominated for four others, it won three BAFTA's and was nominated for a further seven, it won one SAG Award and was nominated for one more and it won two AACTA Awards and was nominated for a further five. All up it picked up seventy award wins and 218 nods, and took US$252M at the global Box Office from its US$40M budget outlay.

In between time, Huston starred in 41 episodes of the 57 episode series running over five seasons between 2010 and 2014 of the highly acclaimed 'Boardwalk Empire'. Starring as Richard Harrow alongside the likes of Steve Buscemi, Michael Shannon, Stephen Graham, Michael Kenneth Williams, Dabney Coleman, Kelly Macdonald and Gretchen Mol, the series won 64 awards and was nominated another 182 times, including multiple Golden Globe, Primetime Emmy and SAG Awards and nominations.

'Posthumous' was released in 2014, then the romantic drama 'The Longest Ride' with Scott Eastwood and Brit Robertson, then the undead period piece of rampaging flesh eaters marauding through 19th Century England in this romantic action horror offering of 'Pride and Prejudice and Zombies' with Lily James, Lena Headey, Charles Dance, Matt Smith, and Sam Riley released in 2016. As was the Coen Brother's mystery comedy of Hollywood in the '50's starring Josh Brolin, George Clooney, Ralph Fiennes, Channing Tatum, Jonah Hill, Alden Ehrenreich, Scarlett Johansson, Tilda Swinton and Frances McDormand in 'Hail, Caesar'!'. The film was awarded eleven wins and a mother 39 nominations from around the traps including an Oscar and a BAFTA nod.

2016 also saw Timur Bekmambetov's remake of the classic swords and sandals epic 'Ben-Hur' with Huston playing Judah Ben-Hur, alongside Morgan Freeman, Toby Kebbel, Rodrigo Santoro and James Cosmo. The film cost US$100M plus marketing and distribution costs and failed to recoup that investment bringing home just US$94M at the worldwide Box Office, making it a bomb, as well a being poorly received by Critics and clearly audiences alike. This was followed up by WWII romantic comedy drama 'Their Finest' Directed by Lone Scherfig and also starring Bill Nighy, Sam Claflin, Richard E. Grant, Jeremy Irons, Eddie Marsan and Gemma Arterton. Closing out 2017 to date, the Iraq War drama 'Yellow Birds' was released early in the year and starred Jennifer Aniston, Tye Sheridan, Alden Ehrenreich, Toni Collette and Jason Patric. Meanwhile, there was also the television mini-series which ran for four episodes in 2014 'The Great Fire' recounting the events that unfolded during the Great Fire of London in early September 1666, with Huston playing King Charles II.

Next up for Houston is the recently wrapped Phillip Noyce Directed crime action thriller 'Above Suspicion' also starring Emilia Clarke, Thora Birch and Johnny Knoxville. In Post-Production is the comedy offering 'An Actor Prepares' also with Jeremy Irons, Matthew Modine and Will Patton, and currently filming is new television series from the creator of 'Mad Men' with 'The Romanoffs' due for airing sometime in 2018. Starring Aaron Eckhart, Paul Reiser, John Slattery, Corey Stoll, Christina Hendricks, Isabelle Huppert, Diane Lane and Amanda Peet amongst others, the first series is currently scheduled for six episodes on Amazon. Also filming for a 2018 release is the Martin Scorsese Directed biographical crime drama film 'The Irishman' starring Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, Bobby Cannavale, Harvey Keitel, Ray Romano, Stephen Graham, Jesse Plemmons and Anna Paquin in a story about a mob hit man recounting his possible involvement with the slaying of Union Boss, Jimmy Hoffa.

All up Huston has 38 Acting credits to his name, and he has so far garnered eight award wins for 'American Hustle', 'Boardwalk Empire', 'Kill Your Darlings' with another four nominations. Huston is in a long term relationship with American model Shannan Click since 2011, with whom he has a daughter, Sage Lavinia (born in April 2013) and a son, Cypress Night (born in January 2016).

Jack Huston - hails from Hollywood Royalty and English Aristocracy; has played English Royalty (Charles II) and Roman Aristocracy (Judah Ben-Hur); has played across just about all genres except Sci-fi but seems to lean toward Biographical retellings, historical offerings and straight up drama; never typecast; is increasingly in demand; a star on the up; and another Brit doing great things Stateside and at home. Happy 35th Birthday to you Jack, from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 9th April 2015.

If like me, your Easter came and went with chocolate overload, Easter eggs aplenty, work, and all the pleasure of a long weekend, now it is time to turn attention to this weeks latest movie releases and all the silver screen things we love when its not Easter and we're working the j-o-b!

This week then we have four new offerings for this second week of the Easter school holiday period that offer decidedly more adult fare than we have seen of late, but the themes of those on offer we have seen before in various guises. Kicking off is another afflicted individual who against the odds rises to the challenge of an intellectual opportunity to discover himself, prove himself and set himself free; a love story of two opposing worlds that collide and do so amidst a friendship that inspires and motivates their own feelings for each other; then a dramedy of a middle aged couple each struggling with their own mid-life challenges who hook up with a much younger couple who help them rediscover themselves and overcome their life's roadblocks; and finally a story of single Mum and teenage ADHD and often violent son and what happens when she pulls him out of an institution and the unlikely friendship that develops between the son and the neighbour.

So when you've made your choice and sat in a dark room with a bunch of complete strangers gawping up at a big screen for two hours at any one of these new movies on offer, or those still out on general release, drop a Comment below this, or any other Post, and share your thoughts with the Odeon Online world. Enjoy your film!

X + Y (Rated M) - Directed by Morgan Matthews and based loosely on a documentary he filmed back in 2007 - 'Beautiful Young Minds' that is of a similar subject matter, here we have socially inept teenager Nathan (Asa Butterfield) who is an autistic genius who has a strong bond with his father and who understands and has patience with his sons condition. When Dad passes away Nathan struggles to connect with his Mother Julie (Sally Hawkins), but enter tutor Martin Humphries (Rafe Spall) who throws Nathan a lifeline and suggests he enter an international maths competition, because he has a gift with numbers.

Accepting the challenge that takes Nathan from his English suburban comfort zone to competition around the world to Taipei and back again, this charts his story of relationships forged, friendships founded, confidence established and love experienced. Touted as heart warming, funny in parts, engaging and emotional this film is likely to pull audiences in as 'Still Alice' and 'The Theory of Everything' also did with its subject matter and nuanced performances.

THE LONGEST RIDE (Rated M) - based on the novel of the same name by Nicholas Sparks and Directed by George Tillman Jnr., this is the story of two young lovers from very different backgrounds - Luke Collins (Scott Eastwood) - a former bull riding champion looking at another shot at the limelight, and Sophia Danko (Britt Robertson) - a graduating college student about to move to New York for her dream job in the art world. As their worlds collide and their ideals differ they forge an unlikely relationship with Ira (Alan Alda) whose decades long love of his wife draws parallels with their own fledgling relationship and from which they learn to adapt, accept and agree their differences so that they can move on . . . together.

MOMMY (Rated MA15+) - Written, Produced and Directed by 25 year old Xavier Dolan this Canadian French foreign language film was in competition at last years Cannes Film Festival and came away with the Jury Prize and so far has walked away with 41 award wins and another forty nominations. Made for a meagre US$5M this film tells the story of widow of three years Diane 'Die' Despres (Anne Dorval) who struggles to make ends meet and will do (almost) whatever it takes to get ahead in life. Her 15 years old son Steve (Antoine-Olivier Pilon) was institutionalised in a care facility just after his father died because of his ADHD affliction and his violent outbursts, and now Die has decided to get him outta there. With a history of issues in his wake Die now needs to bring Steve home realising that he is never likely to be rehabilitated in an institution. Facing many of her own challenges Mommy Die has to adapt and accept her actions to care for her unpredictable son. Neighbour Kyla (Suzanne Clement) takes a shine to Steve and helps Die with his home schooling and his eventual assimilation into society . . . but not without challenges, emotion and passion all the way.  Last week I commented that 'Leviathan' was the must see foreign language film of the year . . . but this might just be it instead - you decide!

WHILE WE'RE YOUNG (Rated M) - Written, Produced and Directed by Noah Baumbach this comedy drama stars Ben Stiller as Josh, husband to Naomi Watts wife Cornelia. They are 40-somethings at a watershed in their lives. Josh is a struggling film-maker and with their lives going no where quickly and rapidly overtaking them while caught napping! With their friends getting married, having children and pursuing sensible careers Josh and Cornelia gravitate toward young 20-somethings Jamie (Adam Driver) and Darby (Amanda Seyfried) whose younger, energetic and enthusiastic lives begin to rub off on the older couple. But as time wears on Josh begins to think that perhaps there is more to this growing friendship than meets the eye and can the young ones be trusted.

Four new films released for the week ahead for you viewing pleasure, that may not offer something for everyone, but provide plenty of more mature movie motivation to get you out there amongst it. Don't be shy and share your thoughts with your like minded cinephiles reading this Blog and pass on your filmic recommendations . . . or not as you see fit!

Movies - see as many as you can!

-Steve, at Odeon Online-